This page is a compendium of items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, damnable prevarications, rants and amusing anecdotes - about LAUSD and/or public education that didn't - or haven't yet - made it into the "real" 4LAKids blog and weekly e-newsletter at http://www.4LAKids.blogspot.com . 4LAKidsNews will be updated at arbitrary random intervals.

Friday, February 12, 2016

LAUSD BANS IMMIGRATION RAIDS ON ITS CAMPUSES

February 10, 2016 :: The school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District
unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday that bans US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents from coming onto school property without
permission — a move meant to signal to immigrant students and their
families that they are secure while on campus.

ICE agents haven't
attempted to look for students at the district's schools, but board
members said that some families expressed concern after ICE detained more than 120 people
last month in raids across the country that were meant to identify and
deport illegal immigrants. This sparked rumors that raids were planned
on Los Angeles schools, prompting LA Unified Superintendent Michelle
King to issue a statement
that said, "Neither the Los Angeles Unified School District nor the Los
Angeles School Police Department is aware of any planned raids or other
action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at any LA Unified school
site. The District welcomes all students and all families and is
committed to supporting their right to live, learn and work in their
communities."
LAUSD is the country's largest school district by
enrollment, and has frequently advocated on behalf of its immigrant
students, including calling on the federal government to pass
immigration reform legislation.

Steve Zimmer, president of the
LAUSD Board of Education, said that he and the other board members
wanted to reassure worried families in passing the resolution.

"The
vitriol and hate that presently permeates the immigration debate,
combined with a regrettable change in US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement practices, made it necessary for the Board of Education to
take a strong stand in solidarity with our families and our
communities," Zimmer said in a statement released after the vote. "Our
message is simple and direct: our schools are safe, welcoming and
embracing for all families."

The
resolution specifically mandates that ICE agents must get approval from
the school superintendent ahead of time if they need to visit campuses
for a specific reason, such as evaluating a school's foreign exchange
programs, but they will not be granted access on unannounced visits or
given student data without clearance.

The resolution cited a
"heightened sense of fear and anxiety" among district students and
families, as well as the need for school grounds to welcome families who
have questions about immigration. It instructed district staff to not
inquire about a student's or family's immigration status or provide
information about them to ICE.

Teresa Borden, a staff member at
the immigration advocacy group Carecen, said that the group had
consulted with the school board about the unease that January's ICE
raids triggered in the immigrant community.

"When something like
that occurs, it ignites fear — generalized fear in the community," she
said. "There are parents who keep their children from school, parents
who don't go to their jobs because of that fear."

Schools are one
of the main places that immigrants interact with government bureaucracy,
she said, so it's important to maintain trust between them. Caracen,
which has had a long working relationship with LAUSD, regularly sends
out advocacy teams to schools with high numbers of immigrant parents to
explain to them what their rights are, and the group works to ensure
that they continue allowing their children to attend school.

"We
know that ICE has some internal directives that consider schools and
churches sensitive locations, so they're not likely to raid those
locations, but we also know that a lot of our community is not
necessarily trusting of what an organization like ICE has to say given
what their function is," Borden said, adding that advocates see the new
resolution "as a very positive sign."

Zimmer echoed those
concerns, saying that that parents should not be afraid to send their
children to school or to fill out the necessary forms to participate in
school activities. He also said the resolution demonstrated the board's
opposition to the recent ICE raids and its "support of humane
immigration reform."

Other school districts, including the San
Francisco Unified School District, have also publicly promised not to
allow immigration agents to carry out raids on school property.

"The
San Francisco Unified School District, like the City of San Francisco,
is a sanctuary. We do not ask students or families about their
immigration status," SFUSD Superintendent Richard A. Carranza said in a statement last month. "We are committed to serving all children and to maintaining a safe and productive learning environment."